The Pennsylvania State University Department of Political Science
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
The Pennsylvania State University
Department of Political Science
PLSC 497A, Politics in France, Spring 2008
M, W 4:15-5:30, 351 Willard
Frank R. Baumgartner
227 Pond Building
phone: 863 8978
email: Frankb@psu.edu
Office hours: M, W 3:00-4:00 and by appt.
This course will focus on politics in France with substantial comparison to the US. I will assume
no particular advanced knowledge of French, French history, or French politics, but the more
you already know the more you may get out of this, and we will review quickly some basics of
French culture and history before starting in earnest to analyze the current political system in
France.
We will use a lengthy and (I have to admit) quite dense text on French government and politics.
You’ll have to bear with me as we wade through the book. However, it contains so much
information, and much of it is useful, that I’ve chosen it in spite of what will be very obvious to
you when you pick it up: It is dull. It also uses a lot of French terms without always translating
them. Come to class with questions; I’ll translate. But the more important idea is that the book,
combined with the class lectures / discussions (which I promise will be more lively) will give
you a very strong introduction into the workings of a democratic political regime that could
hardly be more different than the US political system. Where we take for granted that federalism
and separation of powers are essential parts of a democracy, like a two party electoral system,
France has none of those features and yet it is obviously a democratic society. So we will spend
a lot of time in this class understanding how the French system works, who has power, how
much power they have, why the power is so strongly amassed in so few hands (as compared to
the US), and then at the end (but also through your questions throughout the term) we’ll consider
how this compares to the US system. But make no mistake: In order to make a comparison, one
needs to understand how the system works, so we’re going to go into great detail about the
institutions and practices of how France’s political system works.
Two books have been ordered and are required. The Knapp and Wright book is the main text for
the course; Kingdon’s book we will read toward the end of the semester. In addition to the texts,
we’ll use a lot of on-line resources. Purchase the texts right away.
1. Knapp, Andrew, and Vincent Wright. 2006. The Government and Politics of France, 5th
Edition. New York: Routledge. ISBN: 0-415-35732-2.
2. Kingdon, John W. 1999. America the Unusual. New York: St. Martin’s. ISBN: 0-312-
18971-0
1The Wikipedia pages related to Politics in France contain a wealth of extremely useful
information about history, politics, election results, and links to other useful resources. I
encourage you to explore it especially when there are segments of the book that are confusing or
when you want an update. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_France. In fact, I will
expect you to be familiar with information there and certainly for any assignments this is an
obvious place to start your research.
Assignments and grades will be as follows:
Class participation 15 points
Occasional unannounced in-class quizzes 35 points
Short (5-7 page papers), 10 points each x 5 papers 50 points
Total: 100 points
Class participation comes first on the list because it is fundamental. I will expect you to be
ready, having read the material from the readings as well as reviewed the relevant wiki material.
I will remain relatively on schedule compared to many professors, and I will expect you to do so
as well. You do not need necessarily to come to class with all the answers or having memorized
the material from the readings. However, you do need to: 1) come to class (!); and 2) be familiar
with the topics and ready to ask questions when you don’t understand the material from the
readings. I’ll expect lots of questions.
Quizzes. I’ll give lots of short quizzes throughout the term. These will be mostly factual quizzes
and will be extremely easy for the most part, if you have done the readings. They will focus just
on the main themes, not obscure details from the readings. But they will be pretty regular, and if
you don’t do the readings you may well fail the quizzes. Do the readings. It makes you get more
out of the class, believe me. If you miss a quiz , you get a zero. All the quizzes will be weighted
equally and combine to a total of 35 percent of your course grade.
Papers: Five times throughout the term, I’ll want a short paper from you on an assigned topic,
related to the material most recently covered in the syllabus. These papers should require you to
go into more detail on a given topic than what we do in class. There will be some freedom for
you to explore different aspects of French politics in this way. I will give a template for what the
papers should look like before the first paper is due. I will also give more specific information
about the precise topic and assignment before each one is due. In general, the papers will require
that you go into more detail about a single aspect of the French-US comparison, and to use
specific evidence to support whatever argument you develop. The focus should always be on
France, but comparisons / evaluations / explanations of why it may differ from the US are
welcome in the concluding sections.
Late assignments: If you have a university excuse, of course I’ll let you make anything up. But
things that are simply late will be marked down by 5 points per 24 hours, starting the minute
class begins. So if you had something in two days late the grade goes down by a full 10 points.
Saturdays and Sundays count. Email me the assignment when you have it done, and then also
bring a printed copy to class. The email copy will have a time stamp on it and we’ll go by that.
2Quizzes can’t be made up at all, unless you have a university approved excuse. Note that late or
not, I’ll want an email attachment copy of your paper in all cases.
Please note the following official department policies:
Academic Dishonesty1
The Department of Political Science, along with the College of the Liberal Arts and the University, takes
violations of academic dishonesty seriously. Observing basic honesty in one's work, words, ideas, and
actions is a principle to which all members of the community are required to subscribe.
All course work by students is to be done on an individual basis unless an instructor clearly states that an
alternative is acceptable. Any reference materials used in the preparation of any assignment must be
explicitly cited. In an examination setting, unless the instructor gives explicit prior instructions to the
contrary, whether the examination is in-class or take-home, violations of academic integrity shall consist
of any attempt to receive assistance from written or printed aids, or from any person or papers or
electronic devices, or of any attempt to give assistance, whether the one so doing has completed his or
her own work or not.
Other violations include, but are not limited to, any attempt to gain an unfair advantage in regard to an
examination, such as tampering with a graded exam or claiming another's work to be one's own.
Violations shall also consist of obtaining or attempting to obtain, previous to any examinations, copies of
the examination papers or the questions to appear thereon, or to obtain any illegal knowledge of these
questions. Lying to the instructor or purposely misleading any Penn State administrator shall also
constitute a violation of academic integrity.
In cases of a violation of academic integrity it is the policy of the Department of Political Science to
impose appropriate penalties that are consistent with University guidelines.
1
Much of the text above has been directly obtained from the sections of the Princeton University website
hftp://www.princeton.edu/pr/pub/rrr/99/pages/Ol.htm ) concerning academic integrity (Rights, Rules, Responsibilities
introductory text as well as pages 55-69) as well as from the website of the Department of Economics at The
Pennsylvania State University.
Disabilities
The Pennsylvania State University encourages qualified people with disabilities to participate in its
programs and activities and is committed to the policy that all people shall have equal access to
programs, facilities, and admissions without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability,
performance, or qualifications as determined by University policy or by state or federal authorities. If you
anticipate needing any type of accommodation in this course or have questions about physical access,
please tell the instructor as soon as possible. Reasonable accommodations will be made for all students
with disabilities, but it is the student's responsibility to inform the instructor early in the term. Do not wait
until just before an exam to decide you want to inform the instructor of a learning disability; any
accommodations for disabilities must be arranged well in advance.
Visit our web site
The Political Science Department is in the process of upgrading its web site and will continue to do so
during this and future academic years. In the undergraduate section you will find a wealth of information
including course schedules, faculty office hours, faculty home pages describing their areas of teaching
and research activities, answers to questions about advising, internship opportunities, announcements,
and much, much, more. Check back often: we will continuously update our information about
internships and career opportunities: http://polisci.la.psu.edu/
3Weekly topics, readings, and assignments
Week 1 January 14, 2008: Introduction
Monday: Introduction, overview
Wednesday: Overview of the Historical and Cultural Context
Knapp, pp. 1-24, also pp. 501-502
Week 2 January 21: More Background on French History and Context
Monday: No class, happy Martin Luther King Day
Wednesday: More Recent Developments
Knapp, pp. 24-48
Week 3 January 28: The Constitutional Basis and Design of the Fifth Republic
Knapp, Ch. 2
Read the French Constitution here and be prepared to discuss:
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/english/8ab.asp
***Paper 1 due Wednesday Jan 30, constitutional design of France compared to the US***
Week 4 February 4: The Presidents of France, their Backgrounds and Policies
Knapp, Ch. 3
Presidential Approval data: http://www.php.sofres.com/cote2/ensemble_presidents.php
Also check the wiki for information on Nicolas Sarkozy
Week 5 February 11: Executive Power / The Presidency as an Institution
Knapp, ch. 4
Week 6 February 18: The Dual Executive / the Prime Minister / Cohabitation
Knapp, ch. 5
Week 7 February 25: The Parliament
Knapp, ch. 6
***Paper 2 due Wednesday Feb 27, French and American Executive-Legislative relations ***
Week 8 March 3: Political Parties of the Left
Knapp, ch. 7
Monday: The Communists and the Extreme Left
Wednesday: The Socialists and the Greens
Note: Spring Break, March 10-14
Week 9 March 17: Parties of the Right
Knapp, ch. 8
Monday: Gaullists and the Center
Wednesday: The National Front
4Week 10 March 24: Voting and the Party System
Knapp, ch. 9
***Paper 3 due Wednesday Mar 26, French parties and elections compared to the US***
Week 11 March 31: The Administrative State
Knapp, ch. 10
Week 12 April 7: Interest Groups and Policymaking
Knapp, ch. 11
Note: At this point we are going to skip chapters 12 and 13 in Knapp on local government and
the judiciary. The only reason is that we don’t have time, not because they are not interesting or
important. Read them just for fun if you like!
Week 13 April 14: France and the EU
Knapp, ch. 14
***Paper 4 due Wednesday Apr 16, French public policy compared to the US***
Week 14 April 21: Why is the US so Different?
Kingdon, entire book
Week 15 April 28: Conclusions
Monday: complete our discussion about Kingdon and the US
Wednesday: short paper due on Kingdon.
Note: Last class period, April 30.
***Paper 5 due Wednesday April 30, Review of US-France differences ***
5You can also read
